1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a disposable and relatively low-cost blood collector that is collapsible into a low volume disposal package which may be safely and efficiently discarded after use while avoiding the spread of a contagious, and possibly life threatening, disease.
2. PRIOR ART
The terror of AIDS has, by necessity, precipitated many advances in the field of infection control, particularly in the field of blood sample safety techniques. The potentially fatal dangers of contaminated blood splashes and accidental needle sticks by contaminated needle cannula are two major causes of nosocomial contamination by AIDS and Hepatitus B viruses.
Techniques have been proposed to isolate contaminated needle cannula and/or blood collection tube holders after use, so as to avoid an accidental needle stick and the spread of a contagious, and possibly life threatening, disease. By way of example, the following U.S. patent applications, which have been or will be assigned to the assignee of the present patent application, disclose a disposable syringe having an outer sleeve which is movable axially relative to an inner needle carrier to surround, shield, and prevent reuse of a needle cannula:
Application Ser. No. 43,042 filed Apr. 27, 1987, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,231; PA1 Application Ser. No. 118,745 filed Nov. 9, 1987 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,426; and PA1 Application No. 118,767 filed Nov. 9, 1987 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,827.
Another technique to avoid the spread of a contagious disease by a contaminated needle cannula or blood supply is simply to dispose of the needle cannula and blood collection tube assembly after each use.
Each of the aforementioned techniques requires that health care workers change their thinking toward single use, plastic blood collection tube holders rather than multiple use holders. A blood collection tube holder is a device which is used to support and manipulate the needle cannula and collection tube while a blood sample is being drawn from a "blood precautionary patient". However, with the with instances of patients having a contagious disease, all patients must now be considered as blood precautionary.
Prior to the present re-emphasis on safety, five non-safety blood collection tube holders were commonly packaged in each box of one thousand double-ended blood collection needles. Therefore, it is estimated that each blood collection tube holder was intended to be used for two hundred blood samplings or until the threads in the tube holder failed, whichever occurred first. The practice of utilizing the structure of the blood collection tube holder, itself, to somehow permanently encase a contaminated needle cannula after each blood draw implies an irreversible containment process which irretrievably shields a contaminated needle cannula by contact with, or proximity to, some element of its attached blood collection tube holder on a strictly single-use basis.
The emerging thinking towards single-use blood collection tube holders will do much to minimize the infectious communication of AIDS, Hepatitus B and other dangerous flora. However, a virtually unexpected problem has arisen from these new safety procedures. That is, there has been an exponential increase in the volume of new blood collection tube holders for shipping and dispensing purposes, as well as an even greater increase (because of random packing) in contaminated disposal volume for safe disposal procedures.
For example, prior to the widespread concern for safer blood collection devices and the availability of reliable products to fill this need, pre-existing, conventional blood collection tube holders were used over and over. These reusable blood collection tube holders produced a relatively low contaminated disposal volume of only 0.0066 cubic feet per 1,000 blood draws. However, these same reusable blood collection tube holders caused a highly unsafe condition in terms of re-exposure of the contaminated holders as well as the high risk potential for accidental needle strikes. In the event that the pre-existing conventional blood collection tube holders were not reused and discarded after each use, then a higher contaminated volume of 2.03 cubic feet would result. Nevertheless, the conventional blood collection tube holders would still not protect the health care worker from accidental, contaminated needle stick injuries. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a low-cost blood collector that may be disposed after each use, that produces a relatively small contaminated disposal volume, and that is characterized by increased safety and avoidance of an accidental needle stick.